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What’s a polar bear worth to you?

Environment Canada wanted to know the polar bear&rsquo;s worth as a national icon. Canadians are willing to spend $508 per year to avoid losing the polar bear population.

Do you go with the iPad or the polar bear? A new report says Canadians would shell out as much money as a trendy tablet to preserve the iconic beast. (JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo)

By Emily JacksonStaff Reporter

Wed., Nov. 23, 2011

Call them Canada’s billion dollar bears.

While it’s no secret that polar bears have captured Canadians’ hearts, they’ve apparently got us by the purse strings, too.

Canadians would be willing to pay $6.3 billion per year — $508 per household — to ensure the polar bears do not disappear, according to a report commissioned by Environment Canada.

With 15,000 of these majestic creatures roaming the Canadian Arctic, that’s about $420,000 per bear — slightly less than the average price of a house in Toronto.

The multi-billion dollar value comes from a variety of the bears’ charming, albeit hard to quantify, qualities, the report explains.

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The polar bear’s image is constantly used in advertising campaigns, the report points out. (Think of Coca Cola’s obsession with the great, white bear around Christmas and its $2 million contribution to the World Wildlife Fund to help conserve the bears.)

The iconic image of ursus maritimus has even been hijacked by the government of Canada for the $2 coin.

Plus, polar bears are an invaluable asset to science and education, the report states. Their fur has fibre-optic properties that capture heat, and their status at the top of the food chain provides much information on habitat productivity.

Olar does admit that the total economic value of a polar bear is “tough to measure,” she said.

The report did not quantify the intrinsic value of polar bears or the cultural, artistic and spiritual value of the bears to aboriginal peoples, which can be “very significant.”

The report, which cost the federal government $41,300, was used to help decide whether polar bears should be named a “species of special concern.”

The bears were put on the list in early November, a decision that many favoured despite worries among some First Nations and Inuit groups that the designation would limit hunting quotas.

The government wanted to understand the costs and benefits of preserving polar bears, said Mary Taylor, a director at Environment Canada.

“It’s a key building block to help us understand the importance of polar bears to Canadians,” Taylor said.

But Environment Minister Peter Kent wouldn’t spend the money on the study again, at least not until the budget is balanced, he told The Canadian Press.

“You’re quite right to be somewhat skeptical of trying to put a dollar value on the importance of an iconic Canadian species,” Kent said.

“If you were to ask me what I put the price of polar bears to Canada and to Canadians, I’d say, ‘priceless.’ ”

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